Gospel (Mk 7,31-37) - At that time, Jesus, having left the region of Tyre, passing through Sidon, came towards the Sea of Galilee in the full territory of the Decapolis. They brought him a deaf mute and begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside, away from the crowd, put his fingers in his ears and touched his tongue with saliva; then looking towards the sky, he let out a sigh and said to him: "Effata", that is: "Open up!". And immediately his ears were opened, the knot of his tongue was untied, and he spoke correctly. And he commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he forbade it, the more they proclaimed it and, full of amazement, said: "He has done everything well: he makes the deaf hear and the mute speak!".

The commentary on the Gospel by Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia

Jesus continues to communicate the Gospel outside the borders of Israel. Some pagans, to whom the young prophet's fame as a healer had reached, bring a deaf-mute man before Jesus. Jesus takes him with him and takes him aside, away from the crowd. The Gospel continues to underline that healing, whatever it is, in the body or in the heart, always happens in a direct relationship with Jesus, not in the confusion of the world. Also in this case, Jesus, after touching him with his hands, as if to underline the concreteness of the relationship and after having addressed his prayer to heaven, says only one word to that deaf mute: "Open up!". He heals from his closure: he begins to hear and speak. "Open up!" Jesus says to us too. We too are sometimes deaf and dumb before the Lord, because we do not listen and therefore we do not speak and joyfully communicate the healing power of the Lord. A little further on, Jesus will say to the same disciples: «Do you still not understand and do you not understand? Do you have a hard heart? Have you eyes and do not see, have you ears and do not hear?” (Mk 8,17-18). On the contrary, the amazement of the crowd is immediate and begins to spread. Jesus would like them to be silent. But how is it possible to be silent before the Gospel that saves? Of course, many times we are silent because we do not see or listen. Turning in on oneself prevents the gaze of faith. But if we open our ears to the Gospel and our eyes to the wonders that emanate from it, we too will shout like that crowd: «He did everything well; he makes the deaf hear and the mute speak!